Defensemen getting offensive

UMass Lowell's comeback fueled by Ruhwedel, other blueliners

UMass Lowell defenseman Chad Ruhwedel has picked up the pace in the point-scoring department as the season has gone on. COURTESY PHOTO

LOWELL -- After he took over a low-scoring 5-25-4 UMass Lowell team from Blaise MacDonald following the 2010-11 season, Norm Bazin emphasized the importance of having defensemen with offensive skills and said recruiting them would be a priority for the River Hawks.

The River Hawks had netted just 11 goals and 52 points from their defensemen that winter. They had received 20 goals and 98 points from the defense when they went to the Hockey East championship game in 2008-09 and 15 goals and 80 points a year later when they finished in a tie for third place.

So Bazin was right on point when it came to points from defensemen.

The recruiting for the 2011-12 season was pretty much done when Bazin was hired, so there wasn't a lot he could do with the group of defensemen he had.

The River Hawks did get 13 goals and 66 points from their defensemen last winter when Bazin engineered one of the biggest one-season turnarounds in Division I hockey history and guided them to 24 wins, including a first-round victory in the NCAA Tournament. But he wasn't satisfied and knew the River Hawks could get better.

Bazin brought in his first full recruiting class in September, and three of the 10 freshmen were defensemen, plus junior Joe Houk, who had scored 17 goals as a sophomore at Division III Hamilton and followed Bazin to UMass Lowell as a transfer student.

He was anticipating an offensive boost from Houk, NHL draft pick Dimitry Sinitsyn, and Christian Folin. But when the season began, no one on the blue line could score.

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Even junior Chad Ruhwedel, a pre-season All-Hockey East pick who had tallied eight goals and 40 points in his first two college seasons, was coming up empty night after night.

The River Hawks got off to a 4-7-1 start while averaging just 2.33 goals per game and fell out of the national rankings. UML defensemen contributed just one measly goal and nine points in those first dozen games. Ruhwedel accounted for four of them, all assists. Fans at Tsongas Center were getting restless.

The River Hawks had a killer schedule during the first few weeks. Six of their seven losses came against teams that have been ranked No. 1 in the country at some point this season. They didn't get back to .500 until after Christmas when they beat Bentley. That was the third win in a string of nine that tied UML's Division I record for consecutive wins set in 2001 and has put the 13-7-1 River Hawks back in the national polls at No. 12.

The River Hawks have averaged just under four goals per game during their hot streak, and over the last eight of those games the defense has been contributing an average of more than three points per game.

UML defensemen have racked up eight goals and 18 assists for 26 points during that stretch, led by Ruhwedel, who had scored goals in three straight games and four of five while amassing seven points.

"It feels good, obviously, to put a couple home," Ruhwedel said after scoring the go-ahead goal in last weekend's 4-3 triumph at ninth-ranked Boston University.

Ruhwedel, who has 13 goals and 53 career points in 21/2 seasons, was asked if he's beginning to think of himself as a goal-scorer.

"I wasn't thinking I was a goal-scorer during the first half. I'll tell you that much!" he quipped. "But I'm just shooting pucks to the net, it's starting to pay off, and I couldn't be happier."

"We've gotten contributions from our defense, which was tough at the start of the year," Bazin acknowledged after the win over BU. "But we have a lot of people contributing to the team's success. They're finally getting a good feel for how we have to play in order to have an opportunity at success.

"Our special teams weren't clicking, and now they're contributing. And we've obviously had two solid goalies throughout the run."

While the defensemen have been a bigger part of the offense lately, Ruhwedel emphasizes that their primary job is in their job description.

"Playing hard in front (of our goalies) is the most important thing," he said. "Everything down the other end is just a bonus."

But as Bazin continues to rebuild the program to fit his philosophies, he expects those bonuses to grow larger in future years.

"I think," he said, "you will see even more offense from the defense as a growing trend."

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